


A Chance Encounter, Always

by LeonoraChris



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, teenager Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 01:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1369147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeonoraChris/pseuds/LeonoraChris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when one cold winter night teenager Tony finds a young girl on the street, trying to sell matches? He decides to help the girl find her parents. And why does she trust him so easily?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  _The story and any possible original characters are mine.  
>  NCIS, its own characters and canon aren't._

"Happy holidays! I'll see you next week!"

"You too! Drive safely!"

Leaning against the wall of the building, a teenager with a bored look on his face listened to the cheerful chatter between the people coming and going from the stores there, doing their last minute preparations. All happy smiles and faces and arms full of gifts and other things the big companies brainwashed people to buy. Things that no one even needs. He himself never wasted his time for that day. For him it was rich people's party time, which was ironic as he was supposed to be one of them. They were an illusion, both the world of the rich and holidays like these.

He then took out and lit up a cigarette. Smoking was a nasty habit and he mostly did it because he knew how much it infuriated his father, the man who himself could do whatever he wanted; drink, party, waste money, fool around with women and anything and more what his sick mind could think of. It was hard to keep up with it sometimes. Seeing a fully tattooed man walking by, the teen chuckled. Maybe he should get a tattoo next. That would surely give the old man a heart attack. He could already hear the yelling, ' _Junior! What have you done!? You're disgracing your family name!_ ' Yeah. That would make the day. Maybe then he could finally be free from the DiNozzo name.

His gaze wandered to the street musician who was playing a happy x-mas tune with his guitar and singing merrily. He couldn't help but wonder if he was the only one hearing the sadness and loneliness behind the smile and happiness. Maybe because he was used to doing just that, covering up his sadness and pain with big smiles and sometimes even arrogance when he felt like getting beat up by some strangers. Pulling his jacket tighter around himself, he wondered if the man had any place to go for the night. It was already freezing cold and would only get worse; people kept saying that it was going to be the coldest winter ever. For the sake of that man, he really hoped they were wrong.

Digging around in his pocket, he finally pulled out his wallet, which was old and worn. Not the kind his father approved of, but he loved it, most likely _because_ the old man hated it so much. Taking out some money, he put away the walled and walking past the man, he dropped the money in the old worn hat on the ground. From the corner of his eyes he could see it was already holding some money there; mostly coins and... was that actually some hamburger wrapping..? Shaking his head in anger at whoever had thrown it in there, he walked away. Certain people really didn't deserve a good life, or they needed a very serious and firm shake of reality.

It was getting dark by the time he finally stopped walking to nowhere. There were fewer people around and he knew he should also go back home, but he didn't want to. He couldn't stand dealing with another party with his drunk father and his friends who were just like the old man himself. Some of them even worse... He shook his mind away from the unpleasant thoughts. If it weren't so cold, he'd be happy to spend the night wandering on the streets. Maybe he still would.

Taking out another cigarette, he was lighting it up when his eyes spotted a small girl wandering on the street, not much different from what he'd been doing. The child couldn't be more than ten years old. The clothes that she had on could not possibly be keeping her warm; the slightly torn summer dress barely covered her pale knees, the summer jacket was rather useless in the cold winter night and on her feet there were a pair of sneakers, but he couldn't see any socks. Her bottom lip looked like she'd been biting it constantly. As he watched, she did it again, shivering and clearly trying to hold back the tears.

The cigarette now forgotten in his mouth, he frowned. Completely frozen to the spot, he watched as the people walked by, no one paying any attention to the young child who was practically begging for attention. After observing for a while, he realized she was trying to sell something. A box of matches of all things? Several boxes actually, he realized, noticing the small and badly worn shopping bag full of them. He could swear the scene reminded him of some old story his nanny used to read him a long time ago. It made him shiver, but then he became angry. All those adults, walking around with their family or to their family waiting at home and no one stopped to even ask if she was okay.

What about that nicely dressed street preacher, wearing his devil's collar like it made him something special, standing not too far from the girl? Preaching about many things, yet when the small girl was saying something to the man, he told her to not bother him; he's got important work to do. The man was probably one of those who walked around bragging about the charity he's done in Africa or somewhere, forgetting the people in need of that same help in his own neighborhood. _What a hypocrite_... The teen seethed and he observed some more.

There walked a young woman in her designer shoes, dressed in her designer clothes and carrying her designer handbag, reeking to high heavens of some ridiculously expensive perfume. Dropping a few coins in the box the Red Cross guy was holding, she probably thought it made her a good person or something. Fat chance...

Couple of teenagers walked by, laughing at some trash reality TV show about some trash reality family they had seen the day before.

Busy looking businessman was running through the crowd of people, almost running over the little girl and that's when the teen finally snapped. Walking to the man, he grabbed him by the arm and yanked back before he had a chance to run away. "What is wrong with you!?" he yelled, getting not only the man's but everyone's attention.

"What's wrong with _me_? What's wrong with _you_!? Let go of me you hooligan or I'll call the cops! I'm busy!"

The teen saw red. Holding his cigarette in his other hand, he pointed toward the wide-eyed girl, now staring at them. "Apologize to her!"

"What? Why?" The man was genuinely confused and the teen was momentarily so taken aback by it that his hold on the man's arm loosened enough for the man to get free and escape from the scene.

"Kids these days..." one of the people was heard muttering and after that the city life was back to how it was before. As if nothing had happened. The world kept moving around the two kids now staring at each other.

Seeing how the child was shivering from cold and maybe even fear, the tall teenager crouched down so he would be less threatening. He was surprised how instead of being scared of him, the girl reached out her hand and then took the cigarette from between his lips and dropped it in the snow. "It's bad for your health..."

All he could do was stare and then admire her guts, which she obviously had. He smiled and she smiled back. "I guess you're right... You look cold," he said and then took off his jacket and put it on the girl who grinned happily.

"It's too big," she said and he chuckled.

"Are you lost? Where are your parents?"

Her smile vanished and her lower lip started wobbling as she moved her gaze down.

"Hey... It's okay. I'll help you find them. What do you say?" he said and then horrible thought came to him. What if she didn't have any parents?

"Thank you..." she whispered and took his bigger hand in hers. He was alarmed just how cold her hand felt.

"You know, you shouldn't trust strangers so easily, kid..."

She smiled at him. "It's okay. I know I can trust you."

"And why is that?"

"My gut tells me so."

He chuckled again. The kid was funny. "Your gut, huh? Alright... Let's go to someplace warm and get some rest and food. Tomorrow morning we will start looking for your family. How does that sound?"

"Okay..."

He hesitated for a moment, until the child wrapped her arms around his neck. Almost shaking his head at the trust, the teen raised the girl up into his arms and started walking away from the huge shopping center, which wasn't quite as busy as it had been a moment ago.  "What's your name, kid?" he suddenly asked, realizing he couldn't just keep calling her 'kid'.

"Kelly."

"Kelly, huh? That's a nice name. I'm Tony."

* * *

Entering the big house, Tony avoided being seen by anyone as he moved toward his own room. It wasn't hard thing to do as his father had obviously taken an early start with his party, if the noise coming from the other side of the house was anything to go by. A party that would last for days as it always did.

Walking into his room, he closed the door and was glad that the noise didn't reach this part of the building, which was the only thing he liked about his room; when he needed the quiet in the house, this was usually where he got it. Although he had tried keeping Kelly awake, the child had finally fallen asleep on the way and he was once again alarmed by how cold she felt. Laying her on his huge canopy bed, Tony took out his phone and called their family doctor. He was worried and couldn't take any chances of doing something wrong. "Come on, Kelly. Wake up. I didn't save you just so you can die on me now..." he spoke softly, while at the same time trying to get her to warm up.

He had just finished preparing a hot bath when a servant brought the doctor in the room. He felt such relief seeing someone who actually knew what to do.

* * *

Kelly sighed and moved as her nice and long dream was starting to fade away. She didn't want to wake up. It felt so nice and warm and soft, almost as if she was home again... The thought made her sob quietly. She missed her mom and dad. She wondered if they missed her too. It felt like it had happened such a long time ago, when that bad man had taken her from her home and when she managed to escape, only to find herself completely lost and far away from anything familiar.

She cried for a while until she decided that as the daughter of a Marine, she should not be a crybaby. Finally opening her eyes, she sat up and gasped at what she saw and was stunned by where she was. It had to be a room straight out of a fairytale, and it was huge; it was like the room of a princess. Or a prince, she thought when she noticed the person sleeping on the chair next to the bed. Her savior. He really did look like a prince from her fairytale books. She smiled when she remembered how he had come to her rescue. She was her daddy's little girl and she knew she could trust her gut feeling. She could trust this person.

Crawling closer to the sleeping teen, Kelly wondered why he was sleeping on the chair. The bed was big enough for them both. It was big enough for them both _and_ her mom and dad. She noticed that she was wearing a big T-shirt and shorts, which had to be some boy's clothes. Someone much bigger than she was.

"Kelly?" Tony spoke suddenly as he was slowly blinking his sleepy eyes open. He smiled tiredly and looked relieved. "You're finally awake..."

Kelly frowned and she nodded. "Of course I'm awake. Did I sleep long time?"

" _Very_ long time... You slept for two nights. I was worried, even though the doctor said you would be fine." Tony sighed and he leaned closer to check her temperature with his hand, but then a loud noise broke the serious moment and he grinned. "Seems like you could use some food."

Kelly blushed. "Yes please..."

Tony hesitated for a moment, but reached out his arms toward her and much to his surprise, she didn't take hold of them, but wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer. He wrapped his arms around her and stood up. "You really do trust me too easily."

"You feel safe. You feel..."

"I feel..?"

"You feel the same my daddy does."

"Oh..." Tony blinked, unsure how to take that. Had he just been made to take up the role of a surrogate father for a girl he didn't even know? Man... He was way too young to be a father figure. He was barely seventeen and nowhere near ready to be even thinking about starting a family of his own. "Well, I can be your temporary older _brother_ until we find your dad, okay?"

She'd always wanted a brother, or a sister, but brother was fine too. "Okay."

Walking through the silent house, Tony was relieved that the partying was over for a moment at least. There were some things he'd really rather not have to explain to a child...

Kelly held her head against the strong shoulder and stared at the rooms they were walking through. She had never seen a place this big. It was like a castle.

"Teresa," Tony spoke when he entered the warm kitchen, complete contrast after the cold hallways and long corridors of the building.

The elderly woman working in the kitchen turned around and smiled when she saw him. **"Antonio, you are up early. Who is this young lady?"** she spoke in Spanish.

Tony put Kelly down on the chair behind the kitchen table and she listened with wide eyes as Tony and this friendly looking woman spoke in a language she didn't understand.

**"I found her on the street. Couldn't leave her there. She would have frozen to death..."**

**"Poor thing..."**

**"I was wondering if you could make us something to eat? Or for her really... After that I'm going to try find her parents or anyone who knows her."**

**"But of course, dear child."** Teresa nodded and started pulling things out from the fridge.

**"Teresa... Don't forget we're only two people. One of us being just a child, who might not be used to eating too much right now,"** Tony tried to say, but that didn't stop her. Shaking his head, he turned to Kelly and smiled. "Teresa is a nice lady. She doesn't speak a word in English, but she will understand what you say. I'll go make a few phone calls. Don't leave the kitchen while I'm gone."

Kelly nodded and wondered why she couldn't leave the kitchen. It had to be because the house was so big. He was afraid she was going to get lost. That's what it was. Nodding to herself, she turned to stare at the woman when Tony left the room. Teresa didn't seem to mind that she couldn't understand a word she was saying as the woman was explaining something quite happily.

While sneaking back toward his room, Tony stopped suddenly. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath. _Oh no_... _Not now_.

"Junior. Where were you last night?" The man speaking was his old man, Anthony DiNozzo Senior. He was standing at the door of one of the guest rooms and looking as if he'd partied hard last night, which he had.

"Father..." Tony spoke and turned around to face his father, who was obviously still a little under the influence of alcohol, which he so loved. More than his own son. The man loved everything more than his own son.

"People kept asking me about you. Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was?" Senior was furious and with the volume of his voice raising, it was never a good sign for Tony. Stepping closer to his son, the man's face was starting to take a slightly red tone. "Answer me!"

"I went for a walk," Tony answered, without even flinching at the yelling, although he felt tempted to wipe off the spit from his face, which flew as the old man yelled at him.

"A _walk_!" Senior screamed and Tony hoped it wouldn't be heard in the kitchen. They were far enough, right?

"Yes father. A walk. I needed some fresh air. It happens when I'm around you and your friends during one of your drinking parties. The stench is horrible." Tony knew he was pretty much asking for it and so the punch in the face didn't come as a surprise. He didn't fall down only because he had been prepared for it.

"I'll teach you some respect, you little—!"

"Anthony?" It was a woman's voice coming from the bedroom, stopping Senior's roaring. She sounded uncertain and maybe even slightly fearful. She should be. Once he was drunk enough, Senior could raise his hand against anyone, men or women. Children.

Senior stopped saying whatever he had been about to say. Pointing his finger at his son, he hissed, "I will deal with you later!"

Tony took a deep breath, not having realized he'd been holding it back. For a change he was grateful for his father's random string of girlfriends. It had saved him from more yelling and from getting another black eye or worse. And it kept him from saying something that would have made the man even angrier.

"I hope I won't scare Kelly with this," he muttered, carefully touching his face around the eye. He didn't need a mirror to know he'd be soon having a black eye. Wondering why he didn't take his phone with him in the first place, he hurried to his room.

* * *

**"Oh, Antonio. Antonio, Antonio..."** Teresa spoke the moment she saw her young master stepping back in the kitchen. She could already see the beginning of a black eye. **"What happened this time? And don't lie to me, I'm not stupid. Tell me the truth. Was it your father again?"**

Tony grinned sheepishly. **"I slipped on the empty bottles on the floor. Maria is going to have a heart attack when she comes to clean up the mess."**

**"Antonio..."** Teresa narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

Ignoring her, Tony sat down behind the table and smiled. "Was the food good?"

Kelly stared at Tony with wide eyes. "You're hurt..."

"This?" Tony gingerly touched his eye and barely stopped himself from flinching as it did hurt. Didn't matter how much he was used to it. "It's nothing. I got into a fist fight with the door. You would not believe how often it happens. I'm pretty clumsy for a big boy like me."

Kelly narrowed her eyes like her daddy sometimes did. She had heard a story like that before from a friend at school. Later it turned out her friend's dad hit him and he was taken away from his parents. She never saw that friend again.

Tony tilted his head slightly at the way the kid was staring at him. He felt uncomfortable and didn't like being stared at. "Are you done eating?" he finally asked and Kelly nodded. Without any further word exchange, she held out her arms and Tony felt his heart swell at it. Swallowing down the lump forming in his throat, he stood up and lifted her up into his arms again. "Let's get going then. A friend of mine promised to help us find your family."

Kelly smiled and once again Tony was taken aback by the trust she had toward him. He was afraid to even think if instead of him she had ended up with some bad guy...

Teresa didn't look happy. **"Antonio? Where do you think you're going? You have not eaten your breakfast yet."**

**"I'm sorry, Teresa. I don't have time."** Tony shrugged and took a couple of pastries with him, giving one of them to Kelly.

Teresa shook his head as Tony left before she could force him to sit down. **"Takes care of everybody else, but not himself..."**

* * *

After dressing Kelly warmly in his old clothes, Tony was going to take her out the same way they had come inside, but as he was walking to his bedroom door, he heard the familiar steps of his father walking toward the room. Frozen in fear for a moment, Tony was now in a hurry to get not only himself, but also Kelly out of there. It was one thing when Senior treated him however he pleased, but he didn't want the child to even witness such a scene, let alone be the one getting hurt.

"Let's play a game," he whispered and Kelly could sense that something was very wrong.

"A game?"

"Yeah. A game where you are very quiet and hug me as tightly as you can. Don't let go, no matter what. Can you do that?"

Kelly stared at him and seeing how serious he was, she started to feel distressed, but she nodded her agreement.

"Good girl." Tony hurried to open his room's window. He was used to sneaking out that way, but this time he had someone else with him. Third floor wasn't really that high for him alone, but for the two of them... There was no time; he could hear the footsteps stopping behind his door. Taking Kelly on his back for a piggyback ride, he was glad she understood to wrap her feet around him. "As tightly as you can... And don't look down," he whispered and then rushed to the window.

* * *

He couldn't believe he had done it. Sure, he'd done many things that had made the old man furious, not that there was anything he could do right anyway, but this was a whole new level. He had basically stolen his father's car. Sure, he saw it more as 'borrowing it', but Senior would not care about any of that. He was so seriously screwed...

Looking at the passenger seat, Tony frowned at the silent girl. She hadn't spoken a word after they left his room. That was couple of hours ago now. "Kelly. Talk to me, kid. Please..."

Kelly stared outside the window; she was barely big enough to be able to see outside. She finally turned to look at him. The look on her face was far too serious and knowing for a child her age. "Why did we have to run? Is... Did your dad hurt you?"

Tony frowned. He had no idea what to say. He could easily lie, but...

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

How could she be worried about him, after the hardships she'd been going through? "It's fine. Not really a secret. It's more like a secret that everyone knows about, but no one likes to talk about. My father just got a little angry and smacked me. I wasn't being a very good boy so he punished me."

"My dad and mom never hurt me... Even when I am being a really bad girl."

Tony didn't know what to say. Honestly, it wasn't like he had anything to compare to.

"I don't like your dad," Kelly spoke after a long silence. She sounded upset, even angry.

Tony's mouth twisted into a smile. "I don't like him either. Don't worry. As long as it's up to me, you don't have to see him ever again."

"But what about you?"

The smile vanished. "He's my father." He didn't say more and Kelly understood it was a ' _I don't want to talk about it_ ' thing. It made her sad.

Tony stopped the car in front of a police station. He was glad to have a friend who was a cop. Their friendship started when the man had arrested him few years ago after he ran away from home and was trying out drugs with his new street 'friends'. He had never done anything so stupid again... No thanks to his father, but every bit of thanks to the cop who was like some long-lost uncle to him, or an older brother. Almost like a father, had he not been too young for that.

"Alright, Kelly. We are going to meet my very good friend who will help us find your parents."


	2. Chapter 2

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was an angry man. No. Angry was the understatement of the year. He was pissed off and heartbroken at the same time. Two weeks. _Two weeks_ since his baby girl had been kidnapped by a man wanting revenge. Two weeks of living hell. They had tracked down the bastard and it had taken his agents to hold him back from putting a bullet right between the man's eyes. They had found the man, but his baby girl had seemingly vanished from the earth. He could hardly focus at work and he was prepared to march in Director's office and give the man his ultimatum, to let him keep looking for Kelly or he'd quit. That bastard... Stopping him from working on the case and then giving it to someone else who was hardly as focused as _he_ would have been. It was _his daughter_ who was missing.

Making up his mind, Gibbs stood up, startling his agents who were already treating him like something that could explode. It was the phone ringing on Gibbs' desk that would change everything, but Gibbs wasn't in the mood to answer it.

"Boss..."

" _You_ answer it if you care!" he growled and the Agent swallowed and stood up, answering the phone with calmness he barely could keep. When Gibbs was half way on the stairs toward the Director's office, the Agent was calling after him again.

"Boss!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Gibbs yelled and kept moving.

"It's... Boss... Your daughter..." The Agent swallowed again when Gibbs turned around, looking ready to murder someone.

Gibbs stared and then slowly walked back. "Kelly? Is she..? Did they..?"

"She's alive I think."

"Give that to me!" Gibbs barked. Taking the phone, he was afraid. "This is Gibbs."

" _Leroy Jethro Gibbs?_ "

"Just Gibbs. Now speak."

" _Wow. She wasn't kidding. You really are a grumpy old bear._ "

"What's this, a prank call? I swear, if that's what this is, I will hunt down your ass and then I'll—!"

" _Look, Gibbs. I have your daughter._ "

Gibbs' eyes widened. "What?"

" _I have your daughter. Kelly, right?_ "

"I swear, you bastard, if you've hurt her I'll kill you!"

" _Uh... I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not... Never mind. We can clear it up later. It's going to take some time for us to get there, but I'll bring her home. We're already on our way._ "

"Let me—" Gibbs started, only to realize he'd been cut off. No one did that to him. "I'll kill him!" he hissed and threw the phone down. "Find out where it came from," he ordered. Director completely forgotten, he walked to the elevator. He was going home. He hoped the call really was the real deal and not someone playing a cruel joke on him.

* * *

Shannon was curled up on the couch in the living room, hugging a huge pink teddy bear and she watched silently as her husband kept pacing around the room. "Jethro... What's wrong?" Since their daughter was still not found, and her husband liked to keep the more gory details of real life to himself, she was afraid to know the answer.

Gibbs shook his head and kept glancing toward the clock on the wall. He couldn't possibly tell anything to Shannon; not when this could be another false hope. It was enough that he was ready to lose his mind. He glanced at the clock again. It had been hours since the phone call. How _dare_ that nameless person do this to him. He was so deep in his thoughts that he barely heard a car driving and then stopping in front of their house. It was only after Shannon moved her head, to look toward the front door, that he snapped out of his murderous thoughts.

"Wait here," he ordered and walking silently to the door, he opened it. There was some fancy looking car and while he was staring, the doors opened.

"Daddy!" Kelly cried out when she saw her father. Gibbs felt suddenly weak on his knees and he dropped down on them, holding out his arms where his little girl ran into.

"Kelly!" he rasped, feeling suddenly like he could breathe again. It didn't take long after that for Shannon to come out, scream, and join the family in a group hug.

"Mom... Dad... I was so scared..." Kelly sobbed. She had been a brave girl and hadn't cried too much while she was alone and lost from her family, but now that she was back in those loving arms, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.

It took a long time for the three of them to recover and Gibbs was first to finally look at the other person standing there; a young man who was standing next to the car, with his hands deep in his pockets and looking awkwardly at the loving family moment. Only Gibbs didn't really see him. He simply saw a young male and then suddenly he saw red. Standing up he walked to the young man.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" he yelled and punched him as hard as he could. There was the sickening sound of a nose breaking and then the man fell down.

"Daddy, no!" Kelly screamed and ran to her fallen hero. "Tony! Tony, are you dead?! Daddy, you killed my friend!"

Gibbs stood there in shock and he stared. It was only then that he really saw the man who could barely even be called that. He had hit some kid with his full Marine strength, fueled with rage.

"I'm fine, Kelly," Tony finally said. Looking around dazedly, he tried sitting up and fell back down as he felt dizzy. For some reason he couldn't breathe through his nose.

"You sound funny..." Kelly sobbed. She had wanted to laugh, but instead she found herself crying again.

"Kelly, honey, who is this?" Shannon finally asked. Pulling her bathrobe tighter around herself, she walked closer.

"This is Tony. He saved me," Kelly said and watched in horror at the blood that kept coming from Tony's nose.

"Thank you..." Shannon whispered, but Tony only kept looking around himself with that same dazed look in his eyes. "Oh, Jethro... We need to get him to the hospital. I think you broke the poor boy's nose. Maybe he even hit his head."

Gibbs swallowed and felt horribly guilty, like some kind of bogeyman who had attacked an innocent and defenseless kid. "Right. I'll... I'll take him. You stay home with Kelly."

"No! I will come too!" Kelly protested and wrapped her arms tightly around Tony's arm.

"Jethro. We do need to get her checked as well... We will all go."

Gibbs nodded then. Helping Tony up on his feet, he started taking the teen toward his own car.

"'m fine," Tony muttered and tried to pull away, but fighting back was futile when the man was a former Marine.

* * *

"...and, and, and then we went to see a movie. Then Tony and I took pictures of each other and he even let me take his and he didn't mind that I wasn't very good at it and, and, and then we went shopping for some clothes. He bought me this dress and it's the prettiest dress I've ever had and I did like the other clothes, but they were _his_ old clothes and he's a boy and I'm a girl so it was weird wearing boy clothes. And then..."

Shannon smiled and listened to Kelly's rambling. Her doctor was also smiling at the chatty girl as she was being checked for injuries and any signs of possible other... issues. So far so good, the little girl was doing pretty well, considering all she went through. Gibbs stood by the windows and stared outside. There was a frown on his face, which had been there for a while now.

"Jethro?" Shannon spoke softly as she walked next to him.

"I hurt him, Shannon... That kid found our girl, saved her when no one else even cared. It could have been anyone, Shannon. What if someone else had found her, someone who would've hurt her? He's just a kid himself, yet he did all that to find us and bring her back home. Unharmed... And the way Kelly talks about him and his— that _man_ , I possibly hurt someone who's been abused by his own father."

Shannon didn't say anything for a while. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and hugged. "Go find him then."

"You heard him. Said he didn't want any company."

Shannon chuckled. "Since when do you care what other people say to you?"

Gibbs was silent for a while. "I do care what people say."

"Really?"

"Sometimes."

* * *

Looking around, to see if anyone saw him, Gibbs opened the door to the room where he knew the kid was. Stepping inside, he was for a moment alarmed by the ugly colors on the teen's face. He felt even more guilty...

"I said I don't want any company," Tony mumbled from the bed and slowly opened his eyes, revealing green eyes, which Gibbs noticed for the first time. Somehow he felt his heart break at the hurt he saw in them; hurt that went so much deeper than just him hurting the boy.

"Well, I've been told that I can be a real bastard."

"No kidding?"

Gibbs sighed and ignoring the angry look and sarcastic remark, he took the chair and sat next to the bed. "Thank you," he finally said. To his surprise, Tony looked away.

"Don't have to thank me. Couldn't just leave her there."

Gibbs frowned. Thinking that the kid was hiding tears, he leaned closer and turned the face back toward him. Instead of tears, he saw a red face. Embarrassment. Why embarrassment of all things? "Thank you," he said again and didn't let Tony look away this time. "If it hadn't been you, my little girl could be..."

"I don't need—"

"Thank you."

"Stop that." Tony pulled the blanket over his face.

Gibbs smirked and couldn't help himself. "Thank you." As amusing as it was, it also irritated him that for some reason the kid couldn't handle being thanked. Gibbs almost never thanked anyone, and although the kid didn't know it, this was such a rare moment.

Tony pulled the blanket down and sat up. "Nurse!"

By the time a nurse peeked inside the room, Gibbs was chuckling. "What's wrong?"

"Get him out of here! He's annoying me!"

The nurse studied the situation and seeing no real threat toward the patient, she shook her head. "Keep the voice down and get some rest." And then she left.

"You're not supposed to let strangers in my room!"

Gibbs smirked again and he ruffled the unruly hair. "Guess you're stuck with me now, kid?"

Tony mumbled something and didn't resist when he was pushed back in bed. "Go home. Kelly really missed you."

The smile on Gibbs' face disappeared and he stood up. For a moment he stared at the kid in the bed, now pretending to be asleep. He felt the strange urge to brush away the too long hair from the kid's face, but he held himself back. "Sleep well, Tony..."

* * *

Tony looked to his left and then right. Seeing no one, he skipped through the hall. It was early in the morning and still quite dark. He had to act fast if he wanted to get back to his _—_ Senior's—car and back home. The longer he stayed away, the bigger the trouble that was waiting for him. Since he had no idea where his clothes were or any of his things like keys and money, he walked through the cold city, freezing in his paper thin hospital outfit.

By the time he finally made it to the Gibbs house, he could swear that the tips of his fingers and toes had a slight blue coloring. He couldn't believe his luck when he tried the front door of the house and it was open. Just how stupid were these people? Especially after their daughter had been kidnapped because the door hadn't been locked... Stepping inside quietly, he said a quiet thank you when he saw his clothes and all the things neatly and not far from the door.

"Finally something goes right," Tony whispered to himself and picked them up. As he turned around to leave, a strong hand suddenly landed on his shoulder and he could barely hold back a scream of terror. Twisting around, he tried to get free. In a complete panic mode he didn't even see who it was.

"Calm down," the voice hissed next to his ear and he didn't even know why, but he stopped struggling and blinking as he saw it was Gibbs standing there. "We don't want to wake up the girls." The man smiled and Tony furrowed his brows.

"You're not angry?"

"Angry, why? The door wasn't locked and you only came to take back what's yours."

Tony stared at the man and then suddenly it hit him. "You knew I would come?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Gut feeling."

"Gut... I see where Kelly gets it."

Making sure to lock the door, Gibbs lets go of him for a moment. Then he was touching Tony's hands and face, swearing softly. "You're freezing cold... Did you really walk through the city, dressed like that?"

Tony shrugged, unsure what he was supposed to say. It was true of course, but for some reason he felt like admitting it would have been a wrong move and denying it even worse. So he opted staying quiet.

"Come. You need a hot shower."

Tony hesitated but followed slowly then. He watched quietly as the man prepared everything for him in there and then left him alone, as if sensing the raising panic in him. Once he had made sure to lock the door, and made sure it stayed that way, Tony disappeared under the hot shower, almost letting out a loud yelp at how painful it at first felt against his ice-cold skin. It reminded him of those moments of horror when he thought he had lost Kelly. Her freezing cold skin and how he, with the doctor's help, tried to warm her up and then those long hours of worry when she didn't wake up...

Closing his eyes with a sigh, Tony finally relaxed. He had become too stupidly comfortable having Kelly around him, too quickly. He knew this wasn't gonna last. He would go back home and never see her again. He was already walking down that dangerous road with his father's worsening moods. He shivered at the very thought of returning home with Senior's beloved car...

* * *

They sat behind the kitchen table, Gibbs with his coffee and Tony staring at his steaming hot tea, secretly glancing at each other when the other wasn't looking.

Tony found himself admiring the man. Marine, Kelly had told him, and some kind of Agent; not FBI, she had sharply told him when he asked about it. The man was obviously good and loving father. Not that he really knew what kind of father was good, but Kelly seemed like a happy child with good manners.

Gibbs stared at the kid who after the shower looked so much younger than his actual age. After the hot shower, Tony's face had temporary blush and his hair was sticking at every odd angle. Despite the figure that had to belong to someone who was playing football or some other sport, the blanket wrapped around Tony made the teen look small.

"When's your birthday?" Gibbs suddenly asked, knowing it full well, but wanting to let Tony say it himself. Gibbs had found out the kid's real age from the files he'd made his disgruntled agents dig out for him. What little he found out from those papers, Gibbs didn't like. The boy's mother had died years ago and it had been only Tony and his father; a man who had written his only son out of his will several years ago, yet he seemed to be in control of almost every aspect of Tony's life. Then there were all those countless injuries and hospital visits, with no real explanation.

Tony looked up. "Next year."

"You'll be eighteen then, right?"

"I guess..."

"You need a place to stay?"

Tony frowned. "I don't need one."

Gibbs was silent for a while, thinking back to the conversation he'd had with Shannon and Kelly. There was no way to ever show just how grateful he was, for getting his girl back. Sure, a little malnourished, but still as healthy as she can be considering where she'd been. "Kelly really likes you and Shannon, my wife, is acting like such a mother hen when it comes to you."

"I'm lost," Tony finally admitted.

"What I'm trying to say is... We have a free room nobody is using and it's yours if you want it. We want you to come live with us." And it was the truth, they really wanted it. Or rather, Kelly and Shannon wanted it and Gibbs pretended to be reluctant about it. However it took a call to a cop friend of his—who surprisingly knew Tony—that he knew they were doing the right thing.

Tony stared at him and then suddenly his eyes went cold. "No."

Gibbs was startled. He had expected things to not be that easy, but simple and so final 'no' was not what he'd been expecting either. "Tony..."

"I don't need your pity."

"Pity?"

"Oh, don't think I'm a fool. I'm not stupid, Gibbs. I saw those files of me you tried to hide when I came out of the bathroom. I know what Kelly must have told you about me. I don't need your charity. I helped your daughter because it was the right thing to do, not to get something in return." He stood up and let the blanket fall on the floor. "I'm going home. Thanks for the shower and tea."

"It's not charity! _Sit down_ ," Gibbs ordered, almost forgetting to keep his voice down, to not wake up his girls.

"Then what else do you call it?" Tony snapped.

"It's because we want to do it."

Tony looked so tired suddenly. "Thank you, but you don't know me. I could be anyone. Doesn't matter what files you've read about me. They're just pieces of paper."

"My gut—"

"I know all about your gut. Kelly told me. That reminds me, gut feeling or not, tell her not to trust strangers so easily. Thank God I wasn't someone dangerous or you and I wouldn't be having this conversation."

Gibbs was suddenly afraid. He realized that nothing was going to stop Tony from leaving. For some reason he, just like his girls, had felt something special toward the kid from the moment they had met. Well, apart from the punch in the face obviously. He knew in his gut that if he'd let the kid go, he'd let him walk into something bad. He found himself pleading, surprising both himself and Tony, "Tony..."

Tony smiled sadly. "Gibbs... I'm grateful, but I have to go home. It's good to know that somewhere out there someone cares. It's more than I could have ever hoped for. Thank you. Take care of Kelly."

Gibbs stood there helplessly and watched as the young man walked out of their lives. It would be much later that he wondered how did Tony manage to open the door that was locked. Hearing the car drive away, Gibbs sighed and brushed his hand over his head. How was he supposed to explain this to Kelly who had undying trust that her daddy could make anything happen?


	3. Chapter 3

Few years had gone by and they had seemingly forgotten Kelly's savior, the handsome beginning of a man with the eyes that could both show so much, but hide even more.

For a while Kelly had been angry and upset when she found out that Tony was gone, both at her father and Tony. In Kelly's room, on the wall, there was a bigger than life picture of Tony, which was the one she took back then. Between her father being the former Marine turned NCIS Agent and her savior 'brother' Tony, her ideal future husband was unrealistic, much to the happiness of her father, since it meant less unworthy boyfriends for him to scare away.

They had tried keeping track of Tony, but after only a couple of weeks, all traces of him seemed to disappear as if the boy had never even existed. There didn't seem to be any crime involved either, even though out of nowhere DiNozzo Senior had moved to Italy soon after the disappearance.

It was a phone call from the FBI Agent Fornell, early one morning, which gave Gibbs new hope.

"Gibbs."

" _I think I found your boy._ "

Any other thought left Gibbs' mind and there was odd fluttering feeling in his chest. "You think?"

" _I found your boy._ "

"Where is he? Is he... Is he alright?"

" _He's alive and... Well, he's in Bethesda actually._ "

Gibbs froze. "Bethesda?"

" _He just came back home._ "

"Fornell..."

" _He's a Marine and a really good one too by the looks of it. You'd be proud of him._ _He wants to meet you. You and your girls._ "

* * *

The family of three rushed toward the room where they knew their long-lost boy should be. They were all feeling nervous, excited and anxious at what was waiting for them behind the door. Fornell had been deliberately vague. Getting closer, they saw that the door was open and they heard laughter coming from inside the room.

"Are you sure he didn't shoot you just so you would shut up, Dino?"

"Oh, Rex. You insult me. That's _exactly_ what happened and you know it."

The room was full of laughter again. Tony was lying in bed, looking rather pale, but he was smiling. The room was full of some Marine friends of his. The laughter stopped when everyone noticed Tony had turned serious and was looking at something. Looking at the door, they saw the three people standing there.

"Guys... Let's talk some more next time, okay?"

The friends left with their ' _get well soon or we'll kick your ass_ ' wishes, leaving Tony alone with _them_.

Shannon closed the door to give them some privacy, while Gibbs studied the young man, who hadn't really changed a whole lot, only this time he clearly was a man and there was a haunted look in those green eyes of his. One look in them and Gibbs knew it had been a big mistake that he hadn't forced the kid to stay with them all those years ago.

Kelly ran to the bed and hugged Tony. Then she started crying. "You left..!"

"I'm sorry," Tony mumbled and awkwardly returned the hug. Seeing that Kelly wasn't going to let go of him anytime soon, he sighed and moved a little bit and then patted at the empty spot next to him, which she happily occupied, snuggling next to him. Tony stared at her parents, especially at Gibbs who stared back, while Shannon sat down on one of the chairs. "It's been a while..."

"You're a Marine," Gibbs said and eyed the bruises that he could see.

Tony shrugged self-consciously. "Hate the haircut, but they promised me it'll grow back. I'll sue them if it doesn't."

Gibbs nodded and the room was filled with awkward silence. "I heard you've done more than fine job, out there."

"Just did my job."

_Still the same_... Gibbs mused. "Well, a job or not, I'm proud of you, son."

Tony opened and closed his mouth like a fish on a dry land for a while. Then he grinned awkwardly. "Well you better be. It's your fault I became a Marine in the first place."

"My fault?"

"Well yeah. During our short time together, Kelly kept going on and on about her amazing Marine dad and then I met you in person and... I guess I was a little impressed."

Gibbs was amused. "Impressed? That I was a Marine?"

"Sure, that too... And this big bad Agent _—_ not FBI—and the kind of father I think every kid should have." After saying that, the room was filled with silence again. Even Kelly had stopped crying and she was now stroking Tony's hair repeatedly, with a small grin on her lips.

Gibbs walked closer and took Tony's hand in his. Patting it awkwardly, he smiled. "Any father would be proud to have a son like you."

Tony's face became dark. "Not every father. Mine beat the living breath out of me and then—thinking I'm dead—dumped me in some ice-cold river in the middle of the coldest winter ever. For a while there I was so sure I saw the light and I thought that my dead grandmother came for me."

There was a flash of danger in Gibbs' eyes, his head filled with images of the battered young teenager, lying in some ditch, dying. Shannon, seeing it, stood up and held her hand over his shoulder, calming him down enough to not go into his sniper mode right then and there in the hospital room.

"Well, _I'm_ proud of you."

Tony smiled tiredly, looking somewhat embarrassed. "I had to see you guys. When I was out there..." The smile vanished. "I lost two very good friends; one of them while protecting my sorry ass. They made me promise to see you and I made that promise to myself."

"Took you long time..." Gibbs muttered.

"Sorry."

"This time you will come home. With us. Got it?"

There was a small smile on Tony's face and he rolled his eyes. "Got it, _boss_."

**_The End_ **


End file.
